Maryport Blues Festival 2007

Everyone wants to hear about Gary Moore... well, what can you say? He was great, of course. Brilliant performance. Here's a photo:

He doesn't half milk some of those songs, though. You think he's coming to the end, and then he's off again, with long long notes and howling bluesy passages, and then surely it's going to finish this time - those sound like final chords - but no - off he goes again, dragging it out, piling on the agony. If he wasn't such a bloody good guitar player I'd have been off browsing the music stalls by that time, but when someone plays like that, well, you've just got to forgive him.

It's handy being small. People actually push you to the front. All the medium-sized guys get stuck at the back, trying to take photos over people's heads, while wee folk like me can push their way through and end up getting an exceptional view.

I was about 3 rows from the front when Gary Moore was playing, but when Eric Bibb was on, I got right to the front. Did I hear you ask who Eric Bibb is? Fabulous acoustic blues guitarist, with a unique singing voice. Son of Leon Bibb, who was a very well-known American folksinger back in the 60s. Eric grew up in a house in Greenwich Village where people like Bob Dylan or Woodie Guthrie would pop in from time to time. He was surrounded by fine music, so it's not surprising he grew up to be a fine musician.

I was thrilled, though, to find he was being backed by two of the finest musicians money could buy - Danny Thompson on bass and Larry Crockett on drums.

Danny Thompson has played with everybody - well, everybody that matters, anyway. Let's see - to name but a few from his extensive back catalogue which goes back to 1964 - Alexis Korner, the Incredible String Band, Davey Graham, Marianne Faithful, Julie Felix, Pentangle, Cliff Richard, Donovan, Nick Drake, John Martyn, John Renbourn, Rod Stewart, John Williams, Bert Jansch, Ralph McTell, Sandy Denny, Lynsey de Paul, Tom Paxton, T Rex, Kate Bush, Loudon Wainwright III, Billy Bragg, Sam Brown, Richard Thompson, June Tabor, Kathryn Tickell, Tim Buckley, Alison Moyet, Ali Bain, Nigel Kennedy, Savourna Stevenson, Norma Waterson, Kate Rusby, Peter Gabriel, Paul Weller, and many others. Is there any other musician you can name who's performed with such an assortment of stars from many branches of music?

As for Larry Crockett - well, what an exceptional drummer. I hadn't come across him before, but I was well impressed. Read about him here - www.lcrockett.com . He, too, has played with a huge variety of big names over the years, and once you see him play, you understand why he's in such demand. This guy uses a really minimal drum kit in ways I've never seen drums used before. He's never still. He turns his sticks over, and uses both ends, he tickles the cymbals and brushes and touches his instruments creating gentle sounds that are as far removed from the output of a 'normal' drummer as you could get. Never once did I see him just sitting there, as drummers usually do, bashing away rhythmically with a spaced-out look on the face. No, Larry was aware of every note Eric was playing, and enhancing each note by what he did on his drums. I was amazed. Oh, and he's quite beautiful too!